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EXTRACTS 

PROM     THE 

Memorial  Volume 

OF    THK 

GUILFORD    BATTLE    GROUND 
COMPANY. 

GREENSBOROUGH.    N.   C. 
1894. 


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Unitomity  of  JlBortfj  Carolina 


Collection  of  j^ortl)  Caroliniana 
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Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://www.archive.org/details/extractsfrommemoOOguil 


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W    /S'  MARYLAND  REG   J 
»    CORWALLIS  "ORSE KILLED 


BA  TTLE.  OF 

GUILFORD  COURT  HOUSE. 
H]/ihoh  i5'"/78i 
Scale  of  Yards 


Site  of  the  Maryland  Mojntjmeot. 


THE    MARYLAND    BATTLE    MONUMENT 


"Fat/i  Maschi,   Parole   Femine." 

At  ,i  meeting  of  the  Maryland  Historical  Society,  in 
Baltimore,  on  fune  8th,  1891.  Professor  Edward  Graham 
1  )aves  offered  a  resolution  : 

"That  this  Society  inaugurate  a  movement  to  erect  a 
Monument  on  the  battle  field  a(  Guilford  Court  House^ 
commemorative  of  the  heroic  deeds  oi  the  Maryland 
I due  on  that  historic  spot." 

The  motion  was  unanimously  adopted  and  Professor 
Daves,  General  Bradley  T.  Johnson  and  \Y.  Hall  Harris 
were  appointed  a  Committee  to  mature  plans  for  this 
purpose.  On  November  9th  the  Committee  made  a  report, 
recommending  that  the  scene  of  the  exploits  of  the  Mary- 
land soldiers  on  Guilford  battle  field  be  marked  by  a  Memo- 
rial Stone,  with  suitable  inscriptions,  and  that  the  cost  be 
defrayed  by  voluntary  subscription  among  the  members 
of  the  Historical  Society.  The  Committee  was  instructed 
to  earn  into  effect  this  recommendation,  and  it  decided 
that  the  Monument  should  consist  of  a  rough  cubic  block 
of  Maryland  granite,  adorned  with  two  bronze  tablets,  the 
one  to  contain  the  Maryland  Coat  of  Arms,  and  the 
other  an  inscription  of  dedication. 

The  Guilford  Battle  Ground  Company  earnestly  favoured 
the  undertaking,  and  at  its  meeting  on  March  15th, 
18  )2,  the  i  nth  anniversary  of  the  battle,  voted  "that  the 
Company  extend  to  the  Maryland  Historical  Society  all 
the  aid  it  can  in  accomplishing  its  noble  purpose." 

During  the  summer  the  work  was  completed,  and  on 
October  1 2th,  under  the  supervision  of  Hon.  D.  Schenck, 
the  >tone  was  placed  in  position,  near  the  junction  of  the 
"Bruce  road"  and  the  old  "New  Garden  road,"  fronting 
th(  iost  held  by  the  men  of  the  Maryland  Line  on  the 
opposite  hill,  and  commanding  a  view  of  the  field  over 


which  they  twice  charged  victoriously  upon   the  choices! 
tr<  ii  ips  ( if   the  enemy. 

Ine  ceremony  of  dedication  was  held  on  October  nth. 
file  day  was  beautiful,  and  the  picturesque  grounds  wen 
brilliant  with  the  varied  hues  of  autumn,  as  well  as  with 
the  red  and  blue  of  the  National  flag  and  the  historic  black 
and  gold  of  Maryland.  The  line  of  battle  was  distinctly 
marked,  sign-boards  indicating  the  position  of  ever) 
regiment  engaged,  while  most  fittingly  there  floated  a 
British  flag  over  the  spot  where  Colonel  Stuart  of  the 
Guards  fell,  in  a  hand  to  hand  fight  with  the  Maryland 
hero,  Captain  John  Smith  Glancing  over  the  field  it 
required  but  little  imagination  to  people  it  again  with  the 
contending  hosts,  and  to  follow  ever)'  movement  in  that 
su]  ireme  In  »ur  <  it   c<  inflict. 

At  in  ion  an  appreciative  audience-  gathered  around 
the  speaker'--  stand.  where  Rev.  B.  F.  Dixon, 
President  of  the  Greensboro  Female  College,  opened 
the  exercises  with  a  patriotic  prayer.  The  chorus 
sang  "Mv  Country,  'tis  of  Ihec  and  Judge  Schenck 
introduced  the  orator  oi  the  day,  Professor  Edward 
Graham  Daves,  a  native  of  New  Bern  and  resident 
of  Baltimore,  through  whose  efforts  the  Monument  was 
erected.  The  subject  of  his  address  was  "Maryland  and 
North  Carolina  in  the  Campaign  of  i/Ho-'Si,"  and  the 
speaker  prefaced  it  by  calling  attention  to  the  many 
battles  of  the  Revolution,  from  Brandywine  to  Kutaw 
Springs,  in  which  the  troops  of  these  two  Colonies  fought 
side  by  side.  He  gave  a  succinct  but  clear  account  of 
the  Guilford  campaign,  and  showed  the  important  role 
played  b)  the  men  of  North  Carolina  and  Maryland  in 
the  last  act  of  the  great  Revolutionar)  drama.  Their 
conduct  under  the  brilliant  leadership  of  Greene  decided 
the  issue  of  the  war,  and  the  British  historian  Stedman, 
who  was  the  Commissary  General  of  Cornwallis  in   this 


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campaign,  acknowledges  that  its  events  "were  ol  so 
momentous  importance  as  to  place  within  the  grasp  of 
the  revolted  Colonics  the  independence  and  sovereignty 
for  which  they  had  been  so  long  contending.''  This 
scholarly  paper  oi  Professor  Daves  was  afterwards  read 
before  the  Maryland  Historical  Society,  on  November 
14th.  1892,  and  is  printed  in  their  Fund  Publications. 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  address,  "Maryland,  My 
Maryland!"  was  sung,  and  then  Professor  E.  A.  Alder- 
man, of  the  North  Carolina  Industrial  College  for  Girls, 
delivered  the  response  on  behalf  of  the  Guilford  Battle 
Ground  Company  He  dwelt  upon  the  sentiment  of 
patriotism  and  the  inspiration  that  comes  from  the  scenes 
of  heroic  deeds;  he  accepted  for  North  Carolina  the  gift 
from  Maryland  with  reverent  gratitude,  and  prayed  that 
the  massive  granite  block,  with  its  legend  of  "Manly 
Deeds  and  Womanly  Words,"  may  stand  forever  a  fresh 
and  sympathetic  bond  of  amity  between  the  proud 
Commonwealth  that  gave  it  and  the  proud  Common- 
wealth that  received  it. 

After  the  singing  of  "The  Old  North  State,"  ami  the 
presentation  of  flowers  to  the  speakers  by  the  ladies  of 
Greensboro,  the  whole  company  marched  to  the  black- 
and-gold  enwrapped  Monument,  where  Miss  Edith 
Hagan  gracefully  recited  a  poem  by  Mrs.  E.  D.  Hundley 
on  the  Battle  of  Guilford,  and  on  its  conclusion  the 
Memorial  was  unveiled  to  the  accompanying  music  of 
"Honour  the  Brave,"  and  with  greetings  of  enthusiastic 
applause. 

The  huge  unhewn  stone  stands  out  grandly  in  its 
rugged  simplicity,  with  which  contrasts  happily  the 
artistic  finish  of  the  handsome  bronze  tablets.  A  lofty 
pole  is  planted  near  by,  and  from  it  floats  on  festal  days 
the  brilliant  heraldic  flag  which  Maryland  has  inherited 
from  the  Lords  Baltimore. 


MAJ(  >R    U  IHN    O.-W  ES. 


Major  John  Daves,  oi  Xcwbern,  North  Carolina,  ua- 
born  in  1 74S  in  what  is  now  Mecklenburg  County. 
Virginia.  He  was  brought  when  very  young  to  Craven 
County,  North  Carolina,  in  which  Count)-,  on  September 
29th,  1750,  a  grant  for  six  hundred  ,\ni\  fort}'  acres  of 
land  was  issued  by  Governor  Gabriel  [ohnston  to  his 
uncle,  Richard  Daves.  William  Daves  also  purchased 
land  in  Craven  (  ounty  as  early  as  March,  ijy>,  and  in  a 
deed  bearing  i\a'u-  30th  April,  1754.  he  is  described  as 
"late  of  the  Colony  ol  Virginia,  but  now  of  'Xewbern 
town.' 

The  ancestors  of  John  Daves  were  English.  The  first 
of  the  name  in  this  country  came  from  London  about  the 
middle  of  the  17th  century,  and  settled  in  Virginia,  in 
what  was  afterwards  Chesterfield  County;  whence  his 
descendants  moved  into  the  counties  to  the  Southward, 
Ami  into  North  (  arolina.  The  following  extract  from 
Smith's  Obituary,  P.  33    is  said  to  refer  to  this  family:  • 

"1652,  December  24th.  Died,  John  Daves,  broaker; 
buried  in  St.  Olave's,  Old  Jewry.  His  son,  Thomas 
Daves,  a  book-seller,  was  afterwards  an  Alderman,  and 
Lord  Mayor  of  London,  enriched  by  the  legacy  of  Hugh 
Audlev."  do  this  Daves  there  is  reference,  under 
date  of  November  23rd,  [662,  in  Bonn's  edition  of  Pepys' 
Diary. 

On  25th  October,  1770,  John  Daves  purchased  from 
the  Commissioners  oi  the  town  oi  Newbern  the  premises 
occupied  by  him  during  his  lifetime  as  his  homestead; 
an  unusual  condition  of  the  Commissioners' deed  being 
that  within  eighteen  months  from  the  date  of  its 
execution  there  should  be  built  on  the  land  "a  house  at 
least  24x16  feet  of  stone,  brick  or  frame,"  a  failure  to 
comply  with  which  made  void  the  conveyance.      Shortly 


5 

thereafter  he  married  his  first  wife,  Sally,  daughter  of 
John  Council  Bryan,  a  planter,  of  which  marriage  there 
was  a  sen,  John,  who  died  in  earl}-  childhood. 

In  the  stirring  times  previous  to  the  Revolution,  and 
during  that  war,  the  men  of  Newbern  were  active  and 
prominent.  Her  Minute  Men,  under  Caswell,  bore  a 
conspicuous  part  in  the  victorious  campaign  of  Moore's 
Creek,  in  the  Winter  of  1 776,  and  it  is  said  that  John 
Daves  then  served  as  a  private.  But  the  first  record  we 
have  of  his  services  during  the  Revolution,  throughout 
the  whole  of  which  he  was  in  the  field,  is  as  Quarter- 
master of  the  Second  North  Carolina  Regiment  of  the 
Continental  Line,  June  7th,  1776.  This  Regiment,  with 
the  First,  participated  in  the  successful  defence  of 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  in  June,  1776,  and  the  bearing 
and  efficiency  of  the  North  Carolinians  were  highly 
commended  by  General  Charles  Lee.  Soon  afterwards 
all  the  North  Carolina  Continental  Regiments,  or 
Battalions  .is  they  were  then  called,  were  brigaded 
under  command  of  Brigadier-General  James  Moore. 
General  Moore  died  in  April,  1777,  and  the  command 
devolved  upon  General  Francis  Nash,  who  was  trans- 
ferred, with  his  Brigade,  to  the  army  of  General 
Washington.  These  troops  acquitted  themselves  with 
credit  at  the  battle  of  Brandywine,  in  September,  1777, 
and  were  heavily  engaged  at  Germantown,  where  they 
lost  General  Nash,  Colonel  Fdward  Buncombe  and 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Henry  Irwin,  of  the  Fifth  Regiment, 
Captain  Jacob  Turner  and  many  others.  John  Daves, 
who  had  been  commissioned  Ensign  in  the  Second 
Regiment,  September  30th,  1776,  distinguished  himself 
in  this  battle,  and  his  commission  as  First  Lieutenant 
bears  its  date,  October  4th,  1777.  With  his  comrades  he 
shared  the  miseries  of  the  memorable  Winter  of  1777-78, 


at  Valley  Forge,  the  Brigade  being  then  commanded  by 
General  Lachlan  Mcintosh,  oi   Georgia. 

In  fune  following,  by  virtue  oi  a  resolution  ol  Congress 
passed  in  May,  [778,  the  nine  Regiments  of  the  Brigade 
were  consolidated  into  lour,  and  many  of  its  officers  were 
retired,  or  assigned  to  other  commands;  Lieutenant 
Daves  was  among  those  retained. 

At  Monmouth,  in  June,  1778,  the  Brigade  was  next  in 
action,  and  the  winter  of  '77^  '79  was  passed  at  Morris- 
town,  New  fersey.  Two  Companies  of  the  Second 
Regiment  formed  part  of  the  assaulting  column  of  General 
Anthony  Wayne  at  Stony  Point,  New  York,  Jul)-  10th, 
sjj<),  and  were  warmly  commended  by  him  for  their 
gallant  behaviour.  Major  1  lardy  Murfree  commanded  the 
detachment,  and  Lieutenant  Daves,  who  was  severely 
wounded  in  the  attack,  is  said  to  have  been  a  volunteer 
in  the  "Forlorn  Hope,"  led  by  Lieutenant  G'bbon,  of 
Pennsylvania,  afterwards  of  Virginia.  Lieutenants  Daves 
and  Gibbon,  both  of  whom  subsequently  attained  the 
title  of  Major,  were  ever  after  intimate  friends. 

After  his  recovery,  Lieutenant  Daves  went  with  his 
Regiment,  in  the  Spring  of  17X0,  to  the  relief  of 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and  was  made  prisoner  of 
war  at  the  surrender  of  tli.it  city  by  General  Benjamin 
Lincoln  to  Sir  Henry  Clinton,  12th  May,  17S0.  By  this 
calamity  North  Carolina  was  deprived,  at  a  time  of  sorest 
need,  of  all  her  veteran  Continent.il  troops,  many  of 
whom,  including  their  distinguished  General,  James 
Hogun,  died  while  prisoners  of  war.  Having  been 
exchanged,  Lieutenant  Daves  was  assigned,  January  1st, 
17S1,  to  the  Third  of  the  four  new  Regiments  levied  to 
supply  the  places  of  those  lost  at  Charleston.  These 
Regiments,  raised  and  equipped  only  after  incredible 
labor,  were  not  organized  in  time  to  bear  a  part  in  the 
Guilford  campaign,   but  three  of  them,  constituting  the 


Brigade  of  General  Jethro  Sumner,  and  officered  by 
veterans  of  long  experience,  won  for  themselves  at 
Eutaw  Springs,  September  8th,  1 781,  the  highest  enco- 
miums for  their  bravery  and  steadiness.  In  his  report  oi 
the  battle,  General  Greene  says  of  them:  "I  am  at  a 
loss  which  most  to  admire,  the  gallantry  of  the  officers 
or  the  good  conduct  of  the  men." 

After  the  battle  of  Eutaw,  General  Sumner  was  recalled 
to  Xorth  Carolina  to  punish  and  overawe  certain  bands 
of  Tories,  one  of  which,  under  the  notorious  David 
Fanning,  had  captured,  at  Hillsboro,  on  September  13th, 
17S1,  Governor  Thomas  Burke.  Sumner's  stay  in  North 
Carolina  was  short,  for  we  find  him,  with  his  command, 
again  in  South  Carolina,  in  February,  1782,  at  Ponpon, 
where,  on  the  6th  of  that  month,  there  was  a  reassign- 
ment of  the  officers  of  the  North  Carolina  Line,  Captain 
John  Daves — for  on  the  da)-  of  the  battle  of  Eutaw 
Springs  he  had  been  promoted  to  that  rank — retaining 
his  position  in  the  Third  Regiment. 

In  April,  1782,  Captain  Daves  married  at  Halifax, 
North  Carolina,  Mary  Haynes,  then  in  the  thirty-first 
year  of  her  age.  She  was  the  widow  of  Oroondatis 
Davis,  of  that  place,  and  daughter  of  Andrew  Haynes. 
Her  mother,  Anne  Eaton,  was  a  daughter  of  William 
Eaton,  of  Bute,  (Warren)  County,  and  Mary  Rives,  of 
Virginia,  his  wife. 

Upon  the  reduction  of  the  Continental  Army  in  January, 
1783,  Captain  Daves  and  most  of  his  fellow  officers  were 
retired,  and  placed  on  "waiting  orders"  until  November 
15th,  1783,  when,  with  the  return  of  peace,  he  was 
mustered  out  of  service.  By  a  resolution  of  Congress, 
passed  in  September,  1783,  officers  of  the  Continental 
Line,  who  had  served  for  a  certain  length  of  time,  were 
promoted  one  grade  "by  Brevet."  The  promotion,  which 
was  honorary  only,  was  in  recognition  of  long  and  faithful 


S7 


Service,  and  it  was  probably  to  this  resolution  that 
Captain  Daves  owed  his  title  of  Major,  by  which  he  was 
always  known  after  the  war. 

The  State  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  composed  of 
officers  of  the  Continental  Cine,  was  organized  .it 
Hillsboro,  in  October,  1783,  with  General  Jethro  Sumner 
as  President,  and  Rev.  Adam  Boyd  as  Secretary.  Major 
Daves  was  one  ol  the  original  members  ol  the  Society — 
sixty-two  in  all — but  unfortunately  it  was  short-lived. 
Public  sentiment  in  this  State,  and  elsewhere,  was 
adverse  to  the  Society  at  that  time,  and  nothing  is  known 
Of  its  existence  since  1790.  Its  interesting  records  are 
probably  lost,  but  it  was  represented  in  the  meetings  of 
the  General  Society,  held  in  Philadelphia,  in  1784,  17N7 
and  171,0,  when  it  disappears  from  the  record.  The 
names  and  rank  ol  its  original  members  have,  however, 
been   preserved." 

Major  Daves  was  elected  Collector  of  the  Port  of 
Beaufort,  "with  office  at  Newbern,"  by  the  Legislature, 
which  sat  at  Hillsboro,  in  April,  1784,  and  at  the  same 
session  an  Act  was  passed  authorizing  the  Continental 
Congress  to  collect  duties  on  all  foreign  merchandise 
entering  at  the  ports  of  the  State.  But  in  1 789  the  State- 
ratified  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  that 
prerogative  having  thereby  passed  to  the  General  Gov- 
ernment, President  V  ashington  appointed  John  Daves, 
on  the  9th  of  February,  1790,  Collector  of  the  Port  of 
Newbern,  and  on  the  6th  of  March,  1792,  advanced  him  to 
"Inspector  of  Surveys  and  Ports  of  No.  2  District — Port 
of  Newbern,"  an  office  held  by  him  until  his  resignation 
in  [anuary,  1800. 

In  May,  1787,  Major  Daves  was  elected  one  of  the 
"Commissioners    of    the    Town    of    Newbern,"     a     body 


►University  Magazine,    No.  6,   Mav,   1893,  anil  January,  1894. 


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which,  at  that  time  and  previously,  had,  in  addition  to 
its  other  powers,  authority  "To  Grant,  onvey  and 
Acknowledge  in  Fee,  to  any  person  requesting  the  same, 
any  lot  or  lots  in  the  said  town,  not  already  taken  up  and 
.save  1."  Many  conveyances  of  these  Commissioners  are 
registered  in  the  Count)'  of  Craven. 

An  Act  of  Assembly,  passed  in  [789,  appointed  John 
Daves  and  others  vestrymen  of  Christ  Church  Parish, 
Newbern,  a  parish  originally  established  by  law  in  1715, 
and  first  called  Craven  Parish.  This  Act  was  merely  in 
the  nature  of  a  new  incorporation,  an  1  for  Church  purposes 
onlv',  where  is  the  vestriss  of  Colonial  days  hid  been 
clothed  with  many  of  the  powers  of  our  County  Commis- 
sioners. 

Major  John  Daves  died  in  Newbern  on  the  12th  of 
October,  1S04,  in  the  fifty-seventh  year  of  his  age.  He 
was  buried  in  that  town,  in  Cedar  Grove  Cemetery,  with 
military  and  Masonic  honors,  and  rested  there  until 
June,  1893,  when  his  remains  and  the  handsome  monu- 
ment shown  in  our  engraving  were  transferred  by  his 
grandsons,  Edward  Graham  and  Graham  Daves,  to 
Guilford  Battle  Field,  where,  in  the  perpetual  and  tender 
care  of  the  Battle  Ground  Association,  the}'  now  repose. 
Meet  resting  place,  where  sleep  old  comrades  and 
former  friends,  for  him  whom  his  epitaph  so  well 
describes  as 

"One  of  the  well  tried  Patriots  of  our  Revolutionary  War." 

His  widow  survived  Major  Daves  eighteen  years. 
Their  children  were  Sally  Eaton,  Mrs.  Morgan  Jones, 
whose  many  descendants  are  now  in  Arkansas  and 
Mississippi;  Ann  Rebecca,  Mrs.  Josiah  Collins,  of 
Edenton,  North  Carolina;  John  Pugh  Daves,  whose 
children  still  live  in  Newbern,  and  Thomas  Haynes 
Daves,  whose  numerous  posterity  live  in  Alabama  and 
Mississippi. 


ro 


EDWARD    (".RAH AM    DAVES. 


Edward  Graham  Daves,  second  son  of  John  Pugh 
Daves  and  Elizabeth  Batchelor  Graham,  was  born  in 
New  Hern,  March  31st,  1833.  His  grandfathers  were. 
Major  John  Daves,  a  gallant  officer  of  the  North  Carolina 
Continental  Line  in  the  Revolutionary  Army,  and 
Edward  Graham,  a  leading  member  of  the  bar  of  Craven 
County.  Mr.  Graham  dying  just  before  the  birth  oi  his 
grandson,  to  the  latter  was  given  his  name,  lli^  father 
died  when  he  was  but  five  years  ol  age,  and  all  his  alter 
training  he  owed  to  the  wisest  and  tenderest  oi    mothers. 

His  education  began  at  the  New  Hern  Academy,  under 
the  formal  Lancastrian  system  of  Alonzo  Attmore,  a  rigid 
teacher  of  the  18th  century  type.  Later  he  had  the  benefit 
of  the  genial  instruction  of  Rev.  F.  M.  Hubbard,  afterwards 
Professor  of  Latin  at  Chapel  Hill,  and  soon  showed 
marked  taste  for  the  classics,  being  at  the  age  ol  twelve 
at  the  head  of  his  class  as  a  student  of  Vergil  and  Cicero. 
His  earl)-  boyhood  was  spent  at  New  Hern,  amid  tin- 
refining  and  cultivating  influences  of  the  old  town,  then 
still  in  the  after-glow  of  its  brightest  days;  and  the 
summer  holidays  were  passed  at  Raleigh  with  his 
kindred,  the  family  of  Hon.  William  H.  Haywood,  or  at 
Beaufort,  at  that  time  a  seaside  village  of  marked  quaint- 
ness  and  simplicity  in  customs  and  character. 

This  first  phase  in  the  life  of  young  Daves  ended  in 
1847,  when  he  was  invited  to  the  plantation  of  his  cousin, 
fosiah  Collins,  on  Lake  Scuppernong,  Washington 
County,  there  to  prepare  for  College  under  private  tutors. 
Mr.  Collins  was  a  man  of  wealth  and  culture,  and  his 
home  was  a  centre  of  refinement  and  hospitality.  The 
plantation  was  a  type  of  the  best  Southern  life  of  that 
day;  every  detail  of  the  management  was  admirably 
systematized,   and    the    government    was    like   that  of   a 


1 1 


perfectly  organized  principality  under  a  mild  and  benefi- 
cent autocratic  rule.  The  only  neighbours  were  the 
Pettigrew  family,  and  society  had  to  be  sought  within 
the  house,  which   in  winter  was  filled  with  guests.      For 

the  children's  education  there  was  a  resident  instructor 
in  English,  the  classics  and  mathematics,  and  another  in 
French,  German  and  music.  Love  of  God,  love  of 
kindred,  and  love  of  country  were  diligently  inculcated, 
and  the  standard  of  gentlemanlike  conduct  was  that  of 
Sir  Philip  Sidney — "High  erected  thoughts  seated  in  the 
heart  of  courtesy." 

After  three  fruitful  years  passed  amidst  these  surround- 
ings, Daves  entered  Harvard  at  the  age  of  seventeen. 
This  was  his  first  glimpse  of  the  outer  world,  and  the 
change  was  great  from  the  atmosphere  of  a  Carolina 
plantation  to  that  of  a  New  England  town.  Harvard 
was  then  a  mere  College  with  a  fixed  curriculum;  there 
were  about  three  hundred  undergraduate  students  and  as 
man)-  more  in  the  professional  schools,  while  now  the 
total  number  in  the  University  is  more  than  three 
thousand.  The  Southerners  were  very  few,  but  their 
influence  in  College  life  was  out  of  proportion  to  their 
numbers.  The  President  was  Jared  Sparks,  the  pioneer 
explorer  among  the  archives  of  American  history,  and 
in  the  Faculty  were  Peirce,  the  great  mathematician,  and 
Longfellow.  Among  the  students  were  President  Eliot, 
Bishop  Perry,  Furness  the  Shakesperean,  the  younger 
Agassiz  and  Phillips  Brooks. 

A  diligent  student  and  of  social  tastes,  Daves  was  popu- 
lar with  his  associates,  and  was  chosen  President  of  various 
College  Societies  and  Marshal  of  his  class.  In  classical 
studies  he  was  especially  proficient,  and  he  had  the 
advantage  of  admirable  instruction  from  Sophocles,  a 
native  Greek,  the  most  thorough  of  teachers,  and  a 
perfect  master  of  all  Hellenic  lore.     Graduating  in  1854 


2 


with  second  honours,  and  with  a  prize  for  oratory,  re- 
entered the  Harvard  Law  School,  where  he  occupied 
himself  both  with  legal  studies  and  private  teaching.  I  le 
left  Cambridge  in  [856  with  the  degree  of  Bachelor  o( 
Laws,  and  after  a  short  time  spent  in  the  office  of  Brown 
&  Brune,  in  Baltimore,  was  admitted  to  the  Maryland 
bar.  fust  then  came  the  unexpected  and  flattering 
announcement  of  hi--  citation  to  the  Greek  Professorship 
at  Trinity  College,  Hartford;  the  temptation  was  too 
Strong  for  resistance,  and  law  hooks  were  lai  1  aside  for 
hi--  fa\  '  trite  classics. 

For  five  years  he  devoted  himself  to  the  duties  <>t  this 
position  with  diligence  and  success,  and  in  the  spring  ol 
[86l  he  sailed  for  Europe.  Attending  lectures  for  a 
short  while  at  the  University  of  Bonn,  in  the  autumn  he 
settled  in  Berlin.  It  was  a  most  interesting  historic- 
epoch  in  the  North  German  capital.  William  had  just 
been  crowned  King  of  Prussia,  and  the  initial  measures 
of  his  memorable  reign  were  the  appointment  of  the  then 
little-known  Bismarck  as  Prime  Minister.'  and  the 
perfecting  of  that  admirable  arm)'  organization  which 
was  destined  to  revolutionize  the  military  system  of 
Europe.  The  intelligent  looker-on  in  Berlin  in  that 
winter  of  1 861 -'62  could  see  the  rising  of  the  curtain  on 
the  great  political  drama  of  our  generation,  the  denoue- 
ment of  which  was  the  unification  of  Germany,  the 
conquest  of  France,  the  founding  of  the  Germanic  Empire, 
the  establishment  of  the  Kingdom  of  Italy,  and  the 
downfall  of  the  thousand-year-old  edifice  of  Papal 
temporal  power. 

Daves  travelled  much  in  Germany,  studying  and 
teaching,  and  moved  to  Paris  in  the  spring  of  1863,  a 
brilliant  moment  at  the  French  capital.  Louis  Napoleon, 
flushed  with  his  victories  in  the  Crimea  and  in  Italy,  was 
posing  as   the   arbiter   of   Europe,   and   the   Court  of    the 


aiHU 


I 


Tuileries  was  the  centre  oi  highest  political  interest. 
The  Empress  Eugenie,  then  at  the  meridian  of  her  beauty 
and  charm,  was  the  acknowledged  Queen  of  taste  and 
fashion,  and  around  her  throne  were  fluttering  the 
butterflies  of  every  clime.  \<>  eye  could  then  see  the 
han  [writing  on  the  wad,  though  the  Emperor  had 
already  made  his  first  great  mistake,  and,  reckoning 
confidently  on  the  success  ol  the  Confederate  cause  in 
America,  was  wasting  the  resources  of  France  in  the 
Utopian  scheme  of   founding  a  monarchy  in  Mexico. 

Alter  a  year  spent  in  France  Daves  made  his  home  in 
Vevey  on  the  Lake  of  Geneva,  and  there  established  a 
private  school  for  American  boys.  Five  years  were  here 
passed  in  successful  teaching,  the  routine  life  being 
broken  by  frequent  journeys.  In  1865  a  month  was  soent 
at  Rome,  then  still  under  Papal  sway.  It  was  that 
interesting  period  so  vividly  depicted  in  Crawford's 
Saracinesca.  Pio  Nono  had  returned  from  exile  with  his 
ardour  for  reform  completely  chilled,  and  had  thrown 
himself  fully  into  the  arms  of  the  Jesuits.  Reaction 
reigned  supreme;  every  liberal  aspiration  was  suppressed, 
and  •  ntonelli  ruled  the  State  with  the  skilful  craft  of  a 
Machiavelli.  The  city  was  strongly  garrisoned  by 
French  troops,  on  whose  bayonets  rested  the  Papal 
throne.  The  people,  kept  under  control  by  stringent 
police  regulations,  seemed  content  and  submissive,  but 
many  an  incident  showed  that  beneath  the  calm  surface 
were  dangerous  elements  of  resistance  and  rebellion. 
At  the  races  on  the  Campagna  an  English  jockey 
happened  to  combine  in  his  costume  red,  white  and 
green,  the  colours  of  the  new  kingdom  of  Italy,  and  his 
appearance  was  the  signal  for  demonstrations  of  wild 
enthusiasm.  He  won  the  race;  and  when  the  mob  saw 
the  proscribed  Italian  colours  borne  to  the  front,  it  could 
no   longer   brook   restraint.       The    barriers   were   broken 


'4 


down,  the  crowd  swarmed  over  the  track,  and  tried  to 
carry  off  both  horse  and  rider  in  triumph.  A  riot  ensued, 
and  ''Mine's  prison--  that  night  were  filled  with  the  leaders 
of  the  insurgent  pi  >pulace. 

Tlw  World's  Fair  of  1867  attracted  all  travellers  to 
Paris.  The  Second  Empire  seemed  at  the  pinnacle  ol 
glory,  though  already  Maximilian  lay  dead  at  Oueretaro, 
and  the  bloody  held  of  Koeniggraetz  had  shown 
Prussia  to  be  the  first  military  power  of  the  world.  The 
sovereigns,  statesmen  and  illustrious  men  ol  every 
country  in  Europe  crowded  the  French  capital,  and  were 
entertained  with  great  military  pageants  intended  to 
prove  th.it  France  was  invincible  in  arms.  Baron 
Haussman's  extravagance  had  made  the  city  a  marvel  ol 
beauty;  society  was  never  gayer  or  more  brilliant;  and 
the  mere  "looker-on  in  Vienna"  left  the  capital  oi 
pleasure  with  the  impression  that  France  was  alike  happy 
in  her  social  conditions  and  powerful  in  her  political  and 
military  organizath >n. 

In  [869  Daves  moved  with  his  pupils  from  Vevey  to 
Florence,  and  took  an  apartment  on  the  Piazza  l'itti, 
from  which,  like  Mrs.  Browning  from  the  neighbouring 
Casa  Guidi  windows,  he  could  in  fancy  watch  the 
succession  of  important  events  in  the  royal  palace  across 
the  square,  which  had  become  the  centre  of  Italian  life 
,{\m\  aspiration.  Victor  Emmanuel,  the  rough  soldier- 
king,  could  be  daily  seen  on  the  streets,  greeted  every- 
where with  respect  and  affection,  for  he  had  kept  the 
vow  made  on  the  fatal  field  oi  Novara,  and  the  cross  oi 
Savoy  had  led  the  Italians  to  victory  and  independence. 
When  the  Princess  Margherita  arrived  in  Florence  as  the 
bride  of  Prince  Umberto,  the  whole  city  blossomed  out 
into  daisies  in  honour  of  her  name,  and  the  emblematic 
flower  was  seen  everywhere,  adorning  bonnets,  em- 
broidered   on    gowns,   or    moulded   into   jewelry.     On   a 


'5 

dark  snowy  morning  when  she  was  holding  a  reception 
at  the  Pitti,  the  people  crowded  the  Piazza  and  filled  the 
air  with  vivas.  She  stepped  out  upon  the  balcony  and 
stood  for  a  moment  bowing  to  the  populace,  her  fair 
form  in  bridal  dress  standing  out  in  bold  relief  from  the 
dark  background  oi  the  old  palace,  while  the  snow  was 
falling  upon  her  bare  head  and  shoulders.  A  symbol  of 
Italy  coming  forth  in  renewed  youth  and  beauty  from  the 
storms  of  revolution,  and  behind  her  the  gloomy  grandeur 
of  her  historic  past. 

On  a  summer  journey  in  1X70,  Daves  reached  Paris  just 
as  the  tidings  came  of  the  choice  of  a  Hohenzollern  to 
the  vacant  throne  of  Spain.  The  effect  was  most  dramatic  ; 
the  long-sought  pretext  for  war  was  found,  and  all 
France  went  wild  with  excitement.  Crowds  gathered  in 
the  streets  singing  the  Marseillaise  and  shouting  "To 
Berlin!  To  Berlin!"  and  hardly  a  voice  was  raised  to 
check  the  madness  of  the  hour.  The  ignorance  and 
infatuation  of  the  authorities  were  criminal;  none  knew 
the  power  of  Prussia,  or  how  totally  unprepared  was 
France  for  the  struggle.  "We  accept  the  responsibility 
with  light  heart,"  said  the  Prime  Minister;  the  army  is 
so  well  equipped,  reported  the  Secretary  of  War,  "that 
we  can  fight  for  two  years  without  having  to  renew  a 
shoe-button." 

Passing  into  German}',  Daves  found  there  also  intense 
feeling,  but  of  a  very  different  character;  it  was  the  grim 
determation  of  a  great  people  to  make  an)'  sacrifice 
rather  than  submit  to  further  humiliation  at  the  hands  of 
a  foe  to  whom  the}'  owed  generations  of  wrong  and 
suffering.  All  internal  dissensions  were  hushed  in  love 
of  country,  and  the  patriotic  strains  of  "The  Watch  on 
the  Rhine"  were  heard  from  the  Baltic  to  the  Alps.  It 
was  inspiring  to  note  the  enthusiasm  with  which  the 
Prussian  Crown  Prince   was    greeted    as   commander  of 


If) 


the  South  German  army,  which  only  four  years  before 
had  faced  him  in  the  bitter  civil  war.  He  entered  France 
before  the  enemy  could  reach  the  frontier,  and  a  campaign 
of  a  single  month  shattered  to  ruin  the  Empire  and  its 
mil itar)    po'   er  at  Sedan. 

Returning  to  Italy  in  the  autumn,  Daves  determined 
to  travel  with  pupils  in  the  Orient.  Nearly  three 
months  were  spent  amidst  the  wonders  of  Egypt,  and 
thence  the  journey  was  taken  through  the  Sue/  canal 
to  yria,  where  began  tent-life  and  genuine  Eastern  mode 
of  travel.  To  transport,  shelti  r  an  1  care  for  the  party  ol 
elece  i  pjr.s  >ns  the  lr.ig  >m  i  i  pr  >vi  le  1  eight  tents,  thirty  - 
three  servants  and  thirty-nine  horses  ami  donkeys.  In 
ect  comfort  was  passed  a  month  of  delightful  wander- 
ing in  the  II  >ly  Land;  [erusalem,  Bethlehem  and 
Nazareth,  the  Dead  Sea,  the  Ionian  and  Sea  ol  Galilee 
were  visited,  and  the  inspiring  journey  ended  on  the 
picturesque  heights  oi  Mt.  Carmel,  whose  base  is  \\  ished 
by  tlie  Mediterranean 

Coasting  along  the  shores  of  Asia  Minor,  the  travellers 
rea  lied  Constantinople,  the  meeting  point  of  the  tides  oi 
Asiatic  and  European  life,  and  thence  returned  through 
the  islands  of  tin  Aegean  to  Greece.  In  comparison 
with  the  civilizations  of  the  East  ancient  Athens  seems 
modern  ;  but  standing  under  the  shadow  of  the  I 'art  hen  on, 
or  .it  Colonus  listening  to  the  nightingales  of  Sophocles, 
one  teels  th.it  this  is  the  m  >st  sacred  shrine  for  the 
student  pilgrim,  and  that  h  -re  was  done  more  than  in 
any  other  land  for  the  intellectual  elevation  of  mankind. 
A  new  city  is  rising  amid  the  picturesque  ruins  of  the  old' 
and  with  the  healthful  growth  of  her  University  Athens. 
after  long  dark  centuries  of  slavery,  is  again  radiating  her 
beams  of  sweetness  and  light.  It  is  a  rare  pleasure  to 
listen  to  a  lecture  on  Greek  art  or  philosophy  in  the  little 
motlilied  language  of  Euripides  and  Plato. 


so 
b 

w 

-: 

H 
I 


17 

From  the  isthmus  of  Corinth  the  journey  was  down 
the  Gulf,  the  dolphins  of  Arion  playing  in  its  blue  waters, 
and  the  sacred  slopes  of  Helicon  and  Parmassus  rising 
from  its  shores.  Out  into  the  Ionian  Sea,  under  the  cliff 
of  Sappho  to  Corfu,  thence  across  to  Brindisi,  where  the 
entrance  gate  to  the  Appian  Way  seems  to  welcome  the 
wanderer  and  to  lure  him  to  Rome.  But  first  to  Cam- 
pania Felix,  the  garden  of  Italy,  which  in  the  freshness 
of  spring-time  looks  like  an  earthly  paradise  to  the  eye 
long  accustomed  to  the  grey  rocks  and  sands  of  Egypt 
ami  Syria.  A  glimpse  of  Naples,  of  Vesuvius  and  Pom- 
peii, ami  then  to  the  Eternal  City,  now  become  the 
capital  of  Italy.  An  audience  was  granted  to  Daves  by 
Pio  Nono,  and  touched  by  his  refinement  and  gentleness 
one  could  but  look  with  respectful  compassion  on  this 
voluntary  prisoner  of  the  Vatican.  The  decree  of  the 
Council  of  July,  1870,  promulgating  the  dogma  of  the 
Infallibility  raised  him  to  a  height  attained  by  no  mortal; 
but  hardly  two  months  later  the  Italian  troops  captured 
the  Holy  City,  and  the  ancient  kingly  dignity  and  tem- 
poral power  of  the  Popes  were  at  an  end. 

The  summer  was  passed  in  slowly  travelling  across 
Europe,  taking  en  route  the  Tyrol,  the  wonderful  Passion 
Play  at  Oberammergau,  the  battle  fields  of  Gravelotte 
and  Sedan,  Paris,  with  its  ruined  palaces — Hei  mihii 
quantum  mutatus  ab  Mo — Rotterdam  and  London. 
Returning  to  America,  after  an  absence  of  ten  years, 
Daves  settled  in  Baltimore,  and  devoted  himself  to 
private  teaching  and  lecturing  on  literal'}-  topics. 
Recently  his  interest  has  centred  in  Colonial  history, 
and  he  is  an  active  member  of  the  Cincinnati  and  of  the 
Society  of  the  Sons  of  the  Revolution.  Through  his 
efforts  and  influence  the  Monument  to  the  heroes  of  the 
Maryland  Line  has  been  erected  on  Guilford  battle  field, 
and  he  has  organized  a  company  for  the  purchase  and 
preservation  of  Fort  Raleigh,  on  Roanoke  Island,  the 
birthplace  of  Anglo-American  civilization. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  N.C.  AT  CHAPEL  HILL 


00032699303 

FOR  USE  ONLY  IN 
THE  NORTH  CAROLINA  COLLECTION 


I 


